Organizations such as on-line retailers, Internet service providers, search providers, financial institutions, universities, and other computing-intensive organizations often conduct computer operations from large scale computing facilities. Such computing facilities house and accommodate a large amount of server, network, and computer equipment to process, store, and exchange data as needed to carry out an organization's operations. Typically, a computer room of a computing facility includes many server racks. Each server rack, in turn, includes many servers and associated computer equipment.
Some computer systems, which can include servers, typically include a number of components that generate waste heat. Such components include printed circuit boards, mass storage devices, power supplies, and processors. For example, some computers with multiple processors may generate 250 watts of waste heat. Some known computer systems include a plurality of such larger, multiple-processor computers that are configured into rack-mounted components, and then are subsequently positioned within a rack system. Some known rack systems include 40 such rack-mounted components and such rack systems will therefore generate as much as 10 kilowatts of waste heat. Moreover, some known data centers include a plurality of such rack systems.
Some servers include a number of components that are mounted in an interior of the server. The components, which can include printed circuit boards (for example, a motherboard) and mass storage devices, can support one or more components that generate waste heat, referred to hereinafter as “heat-producing components”. For example, a motherboard can support a central processing unit, and mass storage devices can include hard disk drives which include motors and electronic components that generate heat. Some or all of this heat must be removed from the components to maintain continuous operation of a server. The amount of heat generated by the central processing units, hard disk drives, etc. within a data room may be substantial. Heat may be removed from the heat-producing components via an airflow flowing through a server.
In some cases, cooling systems, including air moving systems, may be used to induce airflow through one or more portions of a data center, including airflow through a rack-mounted server that includes various heat-producing components. However, some servers direct airflow through an interior that includes multiple heat-producing components, so that air removes heat as it passes through the interiors, so that air passing over heat-producing components in a downstream portion of the server has a reduced heat removal capacity relative to air passing over heat-producing components in an upstream portion of the server. As a result, less heat can be removed from downstream heat-producing components than upstream heat-producing components. In some cases, the downstream heat-producing components are more sensitive to heat than the upstream heat-producing components, which can result in a suboptimal configuration.
The various embodiments described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. Specific embodiments are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.